Biden to keynote Human Rights Campaign's annual dinner

9/27/13 5:29 PM EDT

Vice President Joe Biden plans to speak next month to the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights group announced Friday.

Biden, who famously got ahead of the president last year in endorsing legalized same-sex marriage, will keynote the Oct. 5 event at the Washington Convention Center. President Obama has spoken to the dinner twice -- in 2009 and then again in 2011, both times before he joined Biden in announcing his support of same-sex marriage.

“Vice President Biden has been a champion of civil rights for his entire career, from his leadership on the Violence Against Women Act to his strong support for marriage equality,” Chad Griffin, HRC's president, said in a statement. “As senator and vice president, his work to advance LGBT equality is just one chapter in a remarkable lifetime of service.”

Building support in the gay rights world could be key for Biden as he looks ahead to 2016, especially since former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has widespread backing in the LGBT community.